Automobile heater



Sept. 11, 1928.

S. A. SNELL AUTOMOBILE HEATER NW AN Filed July 5, 1926 Patented Sept. 11, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL A. SNELL, or DETROIT, nioniean, ASSIGNOB To rnn'nnmox c. MATTEAEI,

) or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.-

AUTOMOBILE HEATER.

Application filed July a, 1926. Serial No. 120,500.

This invention relates to heating devices especially suited for use in motor cars, and utilizing the heat contained in the exhaust products from the engine for heatlng air 5 which is led into the interior of thecar.

- the car without being heated, this latter operation afiording a means for ventilating the car in warm weather.-

. and into the car, or the flow of air may be entirely shut ofi, but there is no provision made for ventilating the car in 'warm weather, and this is only accomplished by opening the windows. The object of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide a simple, eflicient heating device which is of cheap construction and easily operated, and which permits air to be led into the interior of the car either in heated or unheated condition, as circumstances may require. v 1

I For this purpose, the device includes a heater proper which may be .mounted to form part of theexhaus't line, the'hot exhaust gases flowing through the heater, then through the usual. tail-pipe to the atmos phere. In the body of the-heater is apassage through which atmospheric air may be led in heat exchange relationship with the hot gases, and this passage has an outlet which is connected by a pipe to the usual register in the car floor. An inlet to the passage is also provided and it may be led to a point behind the radiator, if desired, so that themovement of the car will cause air to flow into the heating passage at a rate dependent on the speed. Between the 4 intake and oiltlet conduits is a by-pass in which are mounted two dampers suitably connected and arranged for. simultaneous operation. -.In one position of adjustment, the dampers close the heating passage so that the air flowing into the intake pipe flows through the by-pass line and is led unheated into the car. In another position of adjustment, the dampers close the'bypass adj n the p n s where i c nnects the inlet and outlet conduits, in which case the air is forced to pass through the heating passage before it can enter the car. The dampers are movable to either position of adjustment from the interior of the car and are weighted so that their adjustment to secure eit For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a view of the heating device "in side elevation and adjusted to supply unheated air, I

Fig. 2 is a similar view partly in section with the device adjusted to supply heated -a1r,

Fig. 3 is a vertical end view of the device, Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. 1

Referring now to the drawings, the device includes the heating element generally designated 10,- which may be of any preferred type The heater shown in my copending application, Ser. No. 93,845, filed March 11, 1926, is entirely satisfactory for the purpose, this heater comprising a tubular casing 11 having reduced necks 12 at either end. This casing is adapted to receive a hot medium which is caused to flow in heat exchange relationship with air and is used for heating purposes, and when the apparatus is used on a motor car, one of the necks er effect is a simple matter.

12 on the casing is connected to the exhaust wardly and secured in any convenient way to the ends-of the inner tube. The joint between the tubes should be air tight to prevent gas leakage. Near each end, the outer tube has an opening 16 defined by an outwardly extending flange 17 passing through the casing wall and secured thereto,xthese flanges providing means for supporting the anrlilular air passage spaced from the casing wa Disposed adjacent the casing and extending lengthwise thereof is a tube 18 preferably of square section closed at either end by end plates 19. Each plate has a central aperture surrounded by an outwardly extending flange 20 to which is connected a conduit 21, preferably of flexible construction. One of these conduits leads to the delivery point and conducts the heating medium to the point where it is to be used. In the particular con'struotionillustrated, air is used as the heating medium and it enters the intake line 21 at the right of Fig. 1, as indicated by the arrow, while the heated air flows out through the line 21 at.

1 the left of Fig. 1, to be conducted to the delivery point. The intake line 21 may terminate at any convenient point. When this apparatus is used on a motor car, the air intake line is usually led forward to a point I behind the radiator, so that air will rush into it as the car moves, and the outlet line 21 is usually connected to deliver air to the interior of the car, as for example, by a suitable register" in the floor of the car. The mounting of the air intake behind the radiator and the delivery of air into the interior of the car through aregister in the floor are common constructions andneed not be further described.

In the side wall of the tube 18, openings 22 are formed surrounded by outwardly extending flanges'23, which may be produced by extrusion of the wall of the tube at the openings. These flanges enter the ends of the flanges 17 extending from the walI of the air passage, and air may flow from. the intake line 21 into the tube 18, and thence into the air passage where'it is heated by the hot medium', such as exhaust gases. Flowing through the outlet from the passage, the air,

' now heated, flows through the opening 22 at theopposite end of the tube 18, andthrouglr line 21 as indicated by the arrow at the left in Fig. 1, and is conducted to the delivery point, as, for example, the interior of the car.-

To control the air flow, danipers24 are provided in the tube, each damper comprising a plate 25 secured near one edge to a shaft 26 which is rotatably mounted in the tube wall. The plate has a central stud 27 I on which is loosely mounted a valve plate 28,

which is pressed outwardly against the upset end of the stud by a spring 29. The plate 25 is of a size such that by moving the shaft in one direction, the plate will bear at its upper edge against the inner wall of the tube at the top, and at its lower edge,'which project's sightly beyond shaft 26, will bear against the lower wall of the tube. The edges of plate 25 lie close to the side walls of the tube and thus when the plate is in the upper position illustrated in Fig. 2, flow of air through the tube is vented, the air beaccurately machined.

The plates with'their valves at both ends ofthe tubes are suitably connected together so as to operate in unison. For this purpose, shaft 26" on which one of the valves is mounted, carries an arm 30 which is connected by a longitudinal link 31 and a verticallinc 32 rigidly secured to the link 31, to an arm 33 secured on shaft 26, both arms 30 and 33 being disposed on the outside of the casing and being secured in any convenient manner to the projecting ends of the shafts. Mounted in the wall of the tube between shafts 26 and 26' is a shaft 34, carrying an upright arm 35 at one end, this arm lying at the opposite side of the tube from the links 30 and 33. A spring 36 is secured to the upper end of the vertical arm 35 and the lower end of the spring is secured to a plate 37 se-- cured to the tube below the shaft 34. The other end of shaft 34 carries a vertical arm 38 connected by a pin and slot connection 39 to the longitudinal arm 31. Secured to one end of the longitudinal arm 31 is a remote control means of any convenient type, for example, a rod '40 leading to abell crank'41 mounted at any convenient part of the car and having a rod 42 which may carry a ,means the link 31 may be moved in opposite directionslengthwise of the tube. In one' direction the movement of the link causes a movement of shafts 26 and 26, which results in the plates 24 and 25 being moved in unison to the position illustrated in Fig. 2. With this adjustment air enters one end of the tube and is deflected into the heater. Escaping from the other end of'the heater, the air passes into the conduit 21 leading to. the register in the car. When it is desired to ventilate the car without heating it, the link .31 is moved in the opposite direction, thus moving shafts 26 and 26' to close both openings from the tube to the heater. With this arrangement air entering the inlet conduit 21 flows directly through the tube, by-passing the heater and entering the car. The spring 36. connected to the upright arm 35 exerts a force on the end of the arm which tendsto hold the link 31 at either end of its path of travel, since the lower end of he spring is connected, to a ill lit)

point below the point about which the arm swings. Accordingly, the spring insures that both valves will be in the full open or full closed position, thus making the adjust-- ment of the device relatively simple and insuring its proper operation. It is-highly desirable that when the device is used for heating purposes, the heated air should pass through the heater directly into the car without backing up in the tube 18, and this is accomplished by arranging the valves so that when the heater is in use that partof the tube between the valves is shut off. The

valve adjacent the outlet through which the at some point in advance of the tail pipe,

and the air tube with its air control means is mounted at any convenient point adjacent the heater, the control mechanism being led to a handle at a point where it can be easily reached by the occupants of the vehicle.

I claim:

1. A heating device which comprises the combination of a heating element through which a hot medium may be passed, a passage in the element through which air may be led to be heated by the hot medium, a tube disposed adjacent the element and connected at one end to a pipe line leading to a delivery point, an air inlet at the other end of the tube, connections near the opposite ends of the tube leading to the air passage in the heating element near opposite ends of the passage, and control means in the tube operable alternately to close the tube adjacent both connections, while leaving the said connections open and to close both connections while leaving the tube open between its air inlet and the pipe line.

2. A heating device which comprises the combination of a heating element through which a hot medium may be passed, a passage in the element through which air may be led to be heated by the hot medium,\ a tube disposed adjacent the element, a pipe leading from one end of the tube to a delivery point, an air intake at the opposite end of the tube, connections leading from the tube near opposite ends thereof to opposite ends of the air passage in the heating element, and a control element for each connection, these elements being operable in unison and in one position closing both connections and leaving the tube open and in another position closing the tube adjacent 3. A heating device which comprises the combination of a heating element through which a hot medium may be passed, a passage in the element through-which air may be led to be heated by the heating medium, a tube disposed adjacent the element, a pipe leading from-one end of the tube to a delivery point, an air intake at the opposite end of the tube,connections leading from the tube near opposite ends thereof to opposite ends of the air passage in the heating element, and dampers in the tube one near each connection, these dampers being operable in unison and serving in one position to close the connections while leaving the tube open and in another position to close the tube while leaving the connections open, and a single means for operating both dampers.

4. A heating device which comprises the combination of a heating element through which a hot medium may'be passed, a passage in the element through which air may be led to be heated by the hot medium, a tube disposed adjacent the element, a pipe leading from onev end of the tube to a delivery point, an air intake at the opposite end of the tube, connections leading from the tube near opposite ends thereof to opposite ends of the air passage in the heating element, and dampers in the tube one near each connection, these dampersbeing operable in one' position ,to close both connections while leaving the tube open and in another. position to close the tube while'leaving'both connections open, means for onerating both dampers in unison, and means tending to hold the dampers in either position of adjustment;

5. A heating device which comprises the.

combination of a heating element through which a hot medium may be passed, a passage in the element through which air may be led to be heated by the hot medium, a tube disposed adjacent the element. a pipe leading from one end of the tube to a delivery. point, an air intake at the'opposite end of the tube, connections leading from the tube near opposite ends thereof to opposite ends of the air passage in the heating element, dampers pivotally mounted within the tube one near each connection, these dampers being operable in oneposition to close both connections while leaving the tube open and in another position to close the tube while leaving both connect ons open, linkage connecting the dampers and arrangedto cause the movement in unison, and means connected to the linkage for operat ing the dampers. i

' 6. A heating device which comprises the combination of a heating element through which a 1101? medium may be passed, a pasv sage in the element through which air may be led to be heated by the hot medium, a tube disposed adjacent the element, a pipe leading from one end of the tubeto a delivery point, an air intake at the opposite end of the tube, connections leading from the tube near opposite ends thereof to opposite ends of the air passage 'in the heating element, dampers pivotally mounted within the tube one near each connection, each damper including'a pair of plates and being movable to a position in which one plate closes the connection while the ,tube is left open, and to a second posit-ion in which the other plate closes the tube while the connection is left open, linkage connecting the dampers to cause them to move in unison from one position to the other, and means for moving the dampers from one position to another.

7. In a heating device for use in motor cars, a tube having an air inlet at one end and an airoutlet at the other, apertures in the wall of the tube near either end thereof and between the inlet and outlet, a pair of shaft-s mounted in the tube near each aperture and between theapertures, a damper on each shaft operable in one position of the shaft ,to close the adjacent aperture while the tube is left open and in another position of the shaft to close the tube while the adjacent aperture is left open, linkage connecting the shafts to effect their movementin unison, means connected to the linkage for moving the shafts, and spring means acting on the linkage to hold the dampers in one position or the other. 1 t

In testimony whereof I'aflix my signature.

SAMUEL A. SNELL. 

